Fireworks
by Howlitzer
Summary: Yeah...I should have looked up in the sky at first. Now I can see it in her eyes: fireworks.
1. Low Orbit 1

a/n: Side project, here. Just another idea I've gotten for something [relatively] short, I guess. Hope you all enjoy.

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><p>The man didn't know when to quit.<p>

Now it was going to cost someone else dearly.

The Chaos Emerald in the possession of the notorious Doctor Eggman had gone berserk, overloading itself with power as his machine malfunctioned. Unfortunately, Sonic the Hedgehog, his long time nemesis, also held a Chaos Emerald, and the two reacted violently, creating a dangerous tear in time and space.

Present were Miles 'Tails' Prower, who was near the exit of the Doctor's base, Knuckles the Echidna, who was just ahead, Shadow the Hedgehog, who was inching closer to his blue counterpart, and Amy Rose, who was hanging desperately onto the arm of her blue hero.

Sonic was bracing himself on the ground, trying to pull the pink hedgehog from certain doom as she hung over the freshly created abyss. The burning sensation in his hand had caused him to drop the Chaos Emerald, and it was a good thing, as it scorched and destroyed the ground below when its energies arced with the other Emerald.

A pulsating vacuum of space-time threatened to pull all those present into it.

"This is no good…" Shadow would have used Chaos Control to end the situation, but the energy flying around could seriously distort his accuracy with the technique, if not simply kill him outright.

Sonic felt himself sliding downwards with Amy's weight. Her hurried breaths indicated that she knew it was a long-shot at getting out of this.

"C'mon Ames! You've got this! I know you can do it!"

Sonic's muscles tensed as Amy shifted her hands upwards along his arm, and he swiftly steadied it with his other as she moved.

"That's it…that's it, there. C'mon…c'mon, Rose."

He grabbed onto her free hand and started to reel himself in with her along.

"Almost. You can feel it, right? We're almost home…"

He was losing ground, and his arms were starting to slacken, but he didn't dare give up. His energy was going into saving her.

"Sonic…"

"Be calm, Amy. We're almost here. We'll make it home, nothing to it."

"I'm slipping. I can't move anymore."

"You're not done yet. You can make it, just a bit more, okay? I promise, just a bit more."

He could feel her starting to slip.

"It ain't over, Ames. C'mon, just…just a bit more."

"I can't…that's all I can give…"

"Okay, don't worry about it…I'll finish the job, just hold on. Just a while, okay?"

Her grip was slackening.

"I…am so sorry…please, don't look…"

"No, I'm right here. I'm right here, Amy."

Her hands were loosening by the second, and gravity was making her feel heavier and heavier. She looked up at Sonic, seeing the sweat and strain on his face, feeling the tension in his arms. The small bits of rock that fell as he slid towards his doom.

For her.

"I'm happy…you're going so far for me, you know…"

"We can talk about this later, okay? In a little bit!" he said frantically.

"You mean…like a date…"

"Yeah! A date, a real one like you've been asking for! Ames, I'll keep my word, I'll do whatever even before that! I mean it; just pull this off for me!"

"Sonic…"

Her bright smile froze his heart in place.

"I'll have to take a rain check this time."

It was then that she unwillingly started to release herself.

"The Chaos Emeralds…can grant dreams and wishes…so…"

Her full weight came down on his arms, and he struggled desperately.

"I want to make a wish…that…"

She slipped. And slipped.

"That…"

And her hands came undone.

"A part of me…will always be with…you…"

Their fingers touched for a brief moment, as she floated in space.

She then disappeared into the violently shining light below.

Shadow closed his eyes.

Tails flattened his ears against his head.

Knuckles hung his head in shame.

Eggman simply slumped to the floor with exhaustion.

The hero's hands were limp and useless. He found that he could not shed a tear.

The dark hedgehog picked him up, and gathered the remaining members together before using Chaos Control.

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><p>A knock sounded in the early hours of the morning in the Mystic Ruins. Tails shuffled out of his bed on the top floor of his home and went downstairs to open the door.<p>

Knuckles held a small bundle in his hands. It seemed to be…squirming.

A small hedgehog that had violet fur to match the blankets it was wrapped in. An oddly rosy sheen could be seen in some of its quills in it as the sun began to rise.

"Where'd you find it?"

"It was on the island somehow! You think one of those stork guys dropped it near the Master Emerald by mistake?"

The fox sighed and resisted the urge to face-fault. "Uh, Knuckles…about the storks…"

He was interrupted by the child as it touched his nose, and he couldn't help but smile.

"We can talk about that later, I guess," he said while taking the child in his arms. "I think it's-"

"A girl."

A dreary-eyed Sonic walked up behind Tails, looking intently at the child, its green eyes sparking as it looked up at him. She reached up towards his face eagerly.

"Where was she found?"

"In front of the Master Emerald," Knuckles replied.

"…I…I see…"

He took the child from Tails, tears forming in his eyes.

"Her wish…it came true…it came true….it came…_true_…"

For the first time since that day…Sonic cried.


	2. Low Orbit 2

He clicked his stopwatch as the violet blur passed him.

"How'd I do?"

"Coming along, there. Don't rush it, babe."

"I'll try not to."

She let out a breath, the air shifting her pinkish hair as it hung loosely over her green eyes. Long, slender legs reached down to a pair of running shoes, pink laces secured by a strip of Velcro. Tough white bottoms stood out against the metallic blue that composed the rest of the sneakers, high-tops that cushioned her ankles as she would move swiftly from side to side.

The blue skirt she wore stopped just above her knees, a white stripe running around the bottom. Cautionary tales from her father made wearing denim shorts underneath a habit and a welcome custom – Mom's embarrassing wipeouts were reason enough to adopt it.

A short sleeved shirt hung loosely over her frame, somewhat hiding her growing features with the loose space it gifted her skin. Her bare arms were a peachy colour, like her parents' were, and like her father had done she had taken to wearing black compression sleeves on her arms and the left leg that she favoured for technique when running.

Her quills were much like her father's for the most part, but a few took to curling over one side of her face like thick bangs, something her mother would have done.

The circular track was actually not made for normal running – it was a speedway, created for stock cars to race along in circles for hours upon hours. However, it seemed to be the only sufficient place for excessively fast hedgehogs to run through. The regular dirt tracks would be ruined by their feet pounding down on them.

"You're probably a bit faster than I was at this age."

"You think so?"

"I never really had anyone to gauge against, save Tails…he wasn't much for sprinting, though."

"Mm…how long 'till I catch up to you, Dad?"

"Probably be a while, but…it could happen."

"Really?"

"Yeah…maybe in your millionth or so reincarnation, or something?"

She punched him in the arm playfully for the comment. "Geez, Dad…you really know how to make a girl feel special, don't you?"

"You _know_ the ladies love my charm, Val," he said with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah," she said while rolling her eyes. "We heading home?"

"Probably gonna stay at Tails' again tonight."

"Oh…you think he's on the move again?"

"Eggman? Well, he's full of surprises these days."

"You think he learned his lesson after the last time?" she asked.

"Hope so. Wouldn't want to abandon my _hands-off_ educational plan," he replied, a low growl escaping his throat.

"Daddy…it's okay. I'm right here, remember?" She leaned her head on his shoulder as they walked. "I don't want to see you upset like that…"

"I know…sorry, Val." He put his arm around her softly. "I'm just not over it, you know?"

"You mean Mom?"

"Her, too…"

She looked up at him. "You still miss her?"

"A lot."

"…Would you…if you could…trade me for her?"

"I wouldn't. She wouldn't want that, not for either of us. The reason you're here is because of the wish she made…I'm sure that wherever she is, she never regretted making it."

"I just have to be me, right, Daddy?"

"That's right, babe. Just be yourself."

"I think I can do that."

"Good. That's…good, Valerie."

It had been ten years since that fateful day.

The day after the disappearance of Amy Rose – Sonic refused to say that she had died, with the chance that she had simply been thrown through time and space by the rift – a baby had appeared at the Master Emerald shrine on Angel Island. Knuckles, not exactly knowledgeable on child-care, brought the bundle to Tails' Workshop in the Mystic Ruins.

It took a week for the blood tests to be completed by the boy genius, and to his disbelief, the little girl's DNA was a perfect match to both Sonic _and_ the departed Amy's. In some incredible way, the blue hedgehog was now a father.

However, during the waiting period, Sonic had already taken to the home of Vanilla Rabbit, eager to learn how to properly take care of his daughter – he needed no verification to know that this was indeed the case.

He fought the mad Doctor Eggman with increased vigour in each successive battle, returning to the Rabbits' home at times in utter exhaustion to spend a moment with his treasure.

Her name in full was Valerie Amelia Rose, in honour of her mother. However, after zipping around at a speed considered too fast for her age, Sonic gave her another name that stuck.

"Hey, Rocket!"

The deepened yet still boyish voice of one Miles Prower called to the girl as she approached his workshop.

"How's it going, Uncie Tails?"

"Not too bad. How was the track?"

"Smooth as always," she said with a smile. "Dad's saying that I'm getting faster."

The fox smiled and mussed up the fur on her head. "Don't doubt it for a moment. Soon you'll be faster than I am."

"You sure?" she said with suspicion.

"I was never much of a runner, Rocket."

"Mm…that's what Daddy said."

"He's actually pretty observant…well, when he's not being a total narcissist," Tails said with a smirk.

"Hey, if you were me, you'd be totally into yourself, too," Sonic said with a grin as he walked up.

"Beauty's only skin deep…"

"…But awesome is to the bone!"

"Touche," Tails said as he exchanged a high five with his brother. "You heading out tonight?"

"Yeah. Gonna take care of some business. You mind?"

"You kidding? She's my niece, isn't she?"

"Thanks, lil' bro. I'm not leaving yet, so I can whip something up for dinner."

"Cool. Hey, is she going back to school any time soon?"

"At this rate, probably university. I wish I was the learning type, Tails."

"You are, just in a different way. Besides, you're the best there is at what you do. Don't sweat it too much, big bro."

"S'pose you're right." He patted the fox on the back. "You hungry, man?"

"Been stuck drilling sheet metal all day. Hungry's an understatement…"

"I've got the solution, then. Sonic's world-famous chilli dogs!"

"Dad's making chilli dogs! Awesome!" Valerie shouted.

The three chattered on as they walked inside. These peaceful times were always precious, weren't they?


	3. Low Orbit 3

a/n: A bit short, but I hope you enjoy this all the same.

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><p>The door creaked open softly, and he stepped into the house. He was tired, but somehow accustomed to the feeling. Beating Eggman again didn't leave him satisfied, exactly, but he felt a sense of calm after stopping the madman's latest plan.<p>

He started to trudge upstairs to clean himself up, when he felt something touch his hand gently.

"Daddy…is everything okay?"

Valerie's soft voice reached his ears, her hand gripping his.

"Everything's fine, babe. You're not asleep?"

"I was waiting for you, Dad."

He turned to her and smiled. "I 'preciate the sentiment, but don't you girls need your beauty sleep?"

"As long as you're with me, Daddy…I always feel beautiful."

"Sheesh," he said with a chuckle. "You could melt a man's heart faster than anyone, Val…c'mere." He picked her up and carried her into the living area, sitting down on the couch with her in his lap.

"How's my favourite girl doing? Sorry if I made you worry too much."

"I know you don't mean it, Daddy…but I'm so selfish 'cause I want to be with you as much as I can." She smoothed out her pyjamas and looked up into his green eyes. "I want those times to go on forever and ever and ever…"

"Yeah, me too."

"You smell funny, Dad."

"_Eau du 'Buttnik_. Heard it's in this season," he said with a smile as she giggled. She laughed at his jokes, corny as they were sometimes, and he liked telling them if only to hear her beautiful voice when she was happy. He didn't think he had a favourite sound in the world to listen to other than that.

"Cheesier than a deluxe pizza, Dad."

"So…9.6, then?"

"Out of one hundred."

"Ouch. Remind me to never ask you for any references…"

"Remind me never to give you any."

He smirked. "Wonder where you got all that spunk from?"

She shrugged back with a smile. "We may never know."

"I'm gonna head up for a shower…as much I hate to admit it, water is going to be my new best friend this morning."

"Good luck, Dad. I'll be down here."

"Sounds good, Val."

She smiled as he left, hurrying into the nearby kitchen and opening the fridge to see what was inside.

"Let's see, now…Uncle should be up any moment now, so I'll do something for him, too…" Suppressing a yawn, she set to work.

About an hour later, Tails awoke to the smell of toast and got himself up, curious to know what was going on at this time of the morning.

"Mornin' Uncie Tails!"

"Morning, Valerie…lookin' good over here."

She posed for him teasingly. "Well, you know…beauty only goes so far…"

He smiled in amusement at her joke and sat down before the breakfast she had prepared, sipping a cup of coffee. _Man, can she make a good pick-me-up…wonder if she got that from Amy…_

"Mornin' Tails."

"Morning, Sonic. How'd it go last night?"

He shrugged. "Messy, but workable. Took out another base, but he wasn't in it this time. All automated and junk. Saw a few of those Prototype-1 dealies, but they must have been outdated by five or so years…"

"You were gone a while to take care of Valerie, so that could have been a factor."

"True. Speaking of her, wonder where she went? Not like her to leave a good spread and not take a few bites out of it."

"Don't know myself."

"I'll catch up with her, I guess." He scratched his head and walked into the living area.

After a few minutes, Tails poured himself a fresh cup of coffee and went on his own search for the two, noting that the house was way too quiet, especially with two witty, outspoken supersonic hedgehogs in residence. He turned the corner to the living room and found his answer to the problem.

Sitting on the couch and leaned to one side was Sonic, fast asleep with one arm on the armrest. The other was around Valerie as she slept peacefully as well, holding tightly to her father's hand and snuggling in the warmth of his chest.

The fox couldn't help but sip his coffee with a smile, and went to cover up the food on the table before heading to the soundproofed part of the house to start his day.

The two hedgehogs took a moment to yawn in unison, going back to their dreams soon after.


	4. Low Orbit 4

a/n: Trying not to neglect this one too much. Hope you all enjoy.

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><p>Valerie opened her eyes, feeling her body wracked with pain. She tried to move her hands, only to find that they were bound together with a steel ring.<p>

Trying to move, she felt her legs kick at nothing but air. She was above the ground, pinned against a metal wall. Probably magnetic, she figured. Whatever this place was, it was pretty high-tech. Valerie took in the sights around her and let out a low whistle. The room was lined with computers of all types, running from one end of the large room to the next. A big, comfortable-looking chair sat in front of the largest monitor.

"That must be where he sits," she mused.

The walls were flat with no decoration or thing on them, and painted a sleek black.

The automatic door on one side of the room slid open, revealing a tall man with an unusually round figure. His red jacket was stylized and contrasted nicely with the black suit that covered the rest of his form. The large moustache that extended from his nose was a rich shade of brown.

He peered at her as she hung on the wall, dark goggles giving off a shine in the room's light.

"So. You're finally awake," he said roughly.

"Doctor Robotnik," she replied in a casual tone.

He mentally flinched at her manner…it always got to him. There wasn't a hint of animosity in her voice, not like it had always laced her father's. Almost as if…she didn't care about the complexities of their relationship. The daughter of his greatest enemy, acting so nonchalant despite the fact that she had been captured?

That wasn't rational in any sense.

"I suppose that you're waiting for your father to rescue you, hm?"

"If I can't get out myself, yes. I suppose that's the case."

He was easy enough to read, like her father and Tails had mentioned. She couldn't see his eyes from her position, but his emotions wrote themselves on his face and in his body language. Valerie knew that she bothered him.

No, that wasn't right. The _idea_ of her bothered him. The doctor wasn't ever looking at her, but her components…her parents. It bothered him how she didn't add up to what he calculated in his head.

She had been fighting off his robots after a sudden attack. Well, the others had mostly been easy work, but this strange one that was modeled after her dad…

"Metal Sonic seemed to have his hands full with you. How interesting," Eggman noted.

Right. Metal Sonic. He was tough, much tougher than in her father's day. Then again, Sonic was still growing, and Eggman had much more to learn about the hedgehog despite their encounters. They were a good match-up for each other these days…which was why Valerie knew she didn't stand a chance when he came for her. She put up a good enough fight, she figured.

"I'm sure that you had another robot that could have just as easily taken me in," she said. "Metal Sonic seemed a bit much for…just a kid."

"Your father was just a _kid_ when he destroyed my space station," Eggman spat.

"I'm not quite my father."

"But you _are_ your father's daughter."

She nodded. "You have a point. Do you hate me like you hate him?"

"You are the spawn of my most hated enemy. What do you _think_?"

"I don't know what to think," she countered. "Why else would I ask?"

None of Valerie's replies was sarcastic or intentionally insulting; she really did not know why the doctor hated her so much by association. She learned how to defend herself from her father, in case of any robot attacks. He never took her into a battlefield himself, believing that he should bear the burdens of Eggman's existence on his own. He wanted a peaceful life for his daughter.

She didn't blame him for trying, even though this had happened. Valerie hadn't lived anything close to a sheltered life, but it was peaceful and fulfilling above all else.

Eggman's age was beginning to show, and he looked weary of the endless dance he and Sonic forced each other into. He hoped for leverage with this little girl, but he didn't know if he could get anything out of it. The essence of having a hostage was to dissuade the rescuers from making any moves they thought could harm the hostages for even a moment. The problem here was that this girl wasn't concerned about her own safety. There was absolutely no sense of panic in her, no tension or fear present.

Either she had an incredibly good poker face, or she was insane. Given her lineage, Eggman bet on the latter being the case.

Moreover, Sonic had attained something close to absolute precision in his attacks in recent years. He had changed, hardened even...after disappearing for several years, the blue hedgehog returned with a vengeance, destroying bases left and right at a frightening pace. There was a point where he could have ended the scientist's life, but chose not to. In one second, he could have ended it all.

He chose _not_ to.

Morality must have come into play then. Perhaps he was trying to set an example for his daughter.

"You're trying to figure something out, aren't you?"

That flat, neutral tone still bothered the scientist. Almost as if she were subtly looking down on him. She was physically immobile, but she seemed to have a propensity for mind games.

Valerie saw his features distort, and she remembered that as long as she existed, she would continue to torment him. Just looking into his eyes was a sign of condescension, it seemed.

Thinking about it, she really _was_ uninterested in him in that case.

"What are you planning to do with me?"

"Nothing fancy. If the hedgehog doesn't surrender to me, you'll be vaporized," he said bluntly.

"You don't mess around."

"No, I don't."

"You feel guilty. About her."

Eggman froze.

"My mother."

"Of course...there's no reason why he wouldn't tell you about _that_ incident. Although...I wasn't aware of the fact that they were...in a relationship," Eggman admitted.

"That's fine."

"Why would I feel guilty about that girl?" he said, changing gears. "She came into my base of her own accord, following her 'hero', your father," Eggman replied dismissively. "And it was he that let her-"

"I know. He told me everything. He doesn't blame you. He blames himself. But you still feel guilt over what happened." A smile crossed her lips, and the human felt genuinely disturbed at that moment. "If you have your way...neither of you will have to live with those repercussions any more."

"If I have my way...?" Now he was worried. "Is that...a threat?"

"A promise," she replied, melancholy in her voice. "It's a promise."

She knew something that he didn't, and she was holding it over him...he didn't know how much more irritating she could get. He touched a button on one of the cuffs surrounding his wrist, releasing her from her position on the wall. The steel ring split apart into four pieces and dropped to the floor with a clatter as she landed.

"You're letting me go," she said. A statement rather than a question.

"Your father must be looking for you by now. Not to mention the fact that your presence bores me," he said with a growl. A hand waved her away. "Now get out of my sight. This was clearly a waste of my time, and I don't need another hedgehog ruining my good mood."

"You're not afraid?" she asked, curious.

He looked at the girl for a moment before a booming laugh filled the room. The doctor held his stomach as it shook with the sound of his voice.

"Afraid? Of _ you_? Ohohohohoho! Be serious for a moment! You're just a little runt, incapable of doing _any_ sort of lasting harm to me or anything in my possession! In fact," he said with a smug smirk, "you're incapable of laying a finger on me. Your father must have taught you that violence is wrong, am I right? You can't touch me - you don't have it in you, girl."

"You're right," Valerie admitted. "My father did teach me that violence is wrong."

He blinked and missed it.

Valerie accelerated and rose into the air, driving her knee into the doctor's face at high speed. The human stumbled back, bumping into the large computer behind him before falling to the floor, clutching his nose. He groaned as he doubled over, and Valerie knelt down to look at the man's face.

She caught the flicker of his eyes behind the dark goggles, watching as blood slipped through his fingers and to the floor in drops.

Pity. She was _pitying_ him, he realized. Looking down on him from her perch.

"We children...don't always do as we are told," she said matter-of-factly. "You may know my father and his friends. They might be predictable enough for you, Doctor. But as for me...I'm like a box of chocolates."

She tilted her head to one side. "Sometimes, you get something unexpected from it."

Valerie left the doctor holding his broken nose, leaving through the automatic doors nearby. She closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around herself.

"…What a psycho," she muttered as she searched for a way out.


End file.
